Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution

Having not previously read any of this author's work, I'm particularly impressed at the way Wallace weaves together the interaction of the evolutionary theorists with our increasing understanding of the physical remains of the deep past. One also has to be impressed with the capsule biographies offered by Wallace of the relevant players in the game.

This book of popular paleontology is organized around the "Age of Mammals" mural in the Peabody Museum. The topic is the discovery of the multiple strange mammals from the post-dinosaur past, and the ilummination they shed on the process of evolution. I really felt a sense of ownership, because I have seen the mural many, many times in my science-infatuated childhood in New Haven. The writer was more interested in the stories around the bone hunters and rivalries among the classifiers, than in the evolutionary theory, although he did a credible job. His initial chapter on the murals was memorable, with Vincent Scully, art historian, call the age of reptiles the "most significant frescoe since the middle ages"